What the Night Sky Would Look Like with No Light Pollution

“Skyglow” is a term used to describe the brightness of the night sky in a built-up area as a result of light pollution. In the video above, timelapse artists Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinovic combine timelapse astrophotography—filmed at some of the darkest skies in North America&mdas;and splice the footage with night timelapses of major urban centers like Los Angeles. The experimental videos show what the night sky would look like if there was no light pollution.

The video is part of the Skyglow Project which also includes a book of astrophotography and an entire series of timelapse videos. The artists recently launched the project on Kickstarter and hope to examine the increasing impact of light pollution on our fragile environment.

You can learn more about the project at SkyglowProject.com, and below you will find a collection of stills from the striking timelapse video above.